Hundreds protest govt-ordered logging in Polish forest designated a Unesco World Heritage Site

Hundreds of people have gathered in an ancient forest in Poland to protest against widespread logging the government has ordered in the area.

The Bialowieza Forest, one of Europe's last primeval woodlands and a Unesco World Heritage Site, is the subject of heated political dispute over the logging ordered by Poland's conservative ruling Law and Justice party.

Environmentalists and the European Union oppose the logging, while the government argues it is necessary to fight a bark beetle infestation.

Environmentalists from Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe joined Polish activists on Sunday to oppose what they see as destruction of the natural site.

The government has defied a July order by the EU's Court of Justice to immediately stop the cutting.